Edited by Chris Murray
Published 2007 (ISBN: 1 905370 23 7) Price £9.95
This collection comprises essays by leaders of eight city councils (Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield), co-authored with leaders from industry, higher education, the community and the voluntary sector. Each demonstrates the renaissance of our core cities in recent years as exciting places to live, work and visit. They also show a new city dynamic at work, centred on partnership working, political consensus and a shared sense of vision and ambition. However, all the authors acknowledge the difficult challenges facing our major cities, which include: education, skills and training; improving transport networks between and within city regions; climate change and carbon reduction; increasing capital investment and engaging the private sector; and innovation and harnessing intellectual capital. Taken together, this collection offers solutions, from differing perspectives, on how city leadership can meet the challenges of economic success on the one hand, and ensure social inclusion and sustainable communities on the other. The continued success of our cities is central to narrowing regional divides and improving our overall national competitiveness. All the authors are seeking ways to help pull out all the stops so that the core cities can enjoy the levels of growth we have seen in London and the South East. But, as this monograph makes clear: the core cities want sustainable growth, not more boom and bust. City leaders are offering local solutions alongside national programmes: solutions, as described in this monograph, that celebrate their unique histories and cultures and provide for prosperity and growth, not only for the citizens of the cities themselves, but also for those who live and work in the surrounding areas.